The employment rights of your staff will depend on their employment status. Whether you use self-employed contractors, workers or employees, our lawyers can help you decide what employment relationships will work for your business.
Businesses risk costly litigation if they don’t classify their staff correctly. It’s also important for individuals to understand their own employment status and the rights associated with it.
We have dedicated teams that focus on helping businesses of all sizes or individuals with employment status issues. We aim to solve issues pro-actively and give pragmatic advice specific to your situation.
What Are Some Common Employment Status Issues For Businesses?
The most common issues arise when businesses give self-employed contractors or workers (including agency workers) the wrong employment status.
Employees have more rights than any other category of staff. They have all the rights of workers and self-employed staff. They also have the right to a redundancy payment and to claim unfair dismissal.
Workers have rights such as holiday pay and National Minimum Wage. The category with the least employment protection rights are the self-employed staff.
Classifying someone as self-employed instead of as an employee or worker could allow them to bring an employment tribunal claim against you.
Our team of employment solicitors have years of experience in dealing with employment status issues. We could help you classify any contractors or workers correctly so you can avoid legal issues later on.
What Common Employment Law Problems Do Workers Or Contractors Face?
Working for a business that’s given you the wrong employment status could mean you’re missing out on important employment law rights. If you’re classified as a self-employed contractor, you won’t have the same rights as an employee, such as the rights to:
- Paid holidays
- Paid sick leave
- A fair dismissal.
If you should be classified as an employee and are dismissed without a fair process, you could bring an unfair dismissal claim against your employer.
You can also face issues if you’re not sure who your employer is - especially if you’ve been placed with an employer by an agency. Sometimes your employer can change throughout your placement, making it difficult to know who you have a contract with and what rights you’re entitled to.
We’ve helped many people clarify their employment status and bring claims against their employer for unfair dismissal or unlawful treatment. If you’re unsure about where you stand, contact our team today on 01142 781 629 or contact us online.
How Can Irwin Mitchell Help?
We can support employers by:
- Advising you on the different types of employment status and what would work best for your business
- Reviewing your contracts to minimise uncertainty and risk over employment status
- Advising on managing your workforce to avoid employment status claims
- Representing and supporting you should you receive an employment tribunal claim.
We can support individuals by:
- Advising you on your employment status
- Reviewing a proposed contract to make sure it reflects your rights under your correct employment status
- Helping you make a claim against your employer for an incorrect employment status, unfair dismissal or unlawful treatment.
Why Choose Irwin Mitchell?
Our employment lawyers help both employers and individuals with employment status issues. We’ve handled a wide variety of situations in different sectors, and will apply this experience and expertise to achieve the best outcome for you.
We have offices throughout the country so wherever you’re based, we have an expert who can help. Employment status can be complex but we can make sure that you’re protected if you run a business or are working for a business where your status is unclear.
Contact Us
Whether you’re an employer or an individual, our expert employment lawyers can help you with any employment status issues. Give our friendly team a call on 01142 781 629or get in touch online.
